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All 22.0 - The Rise of the Firehawk
The morning of the 3rd of Elul saw the group walking further north from Inversheil. They were joined by Itzli, a gnollish scribe who had been tasked by the temple with following the Dragon King, Pierce, and transcribing his travels. Their destination was a particular mountain in the southern reaches of Chicao, the country to the north: according to Eshbolian literature, the terrible mountain threatened the people, and the Dragon King had to consume its interior so that it would be made safe once again. It was a strange-sounding myth, but seeing as how it related to the Dragon King, and that the myth was attributed to a cycle of centuries that was coming to completion within the year, they determined it a worthwhile location to investigate. They traveled by foot on summoned horseback through the jungle footpaths, until they eventually thinned out into chaparral. With no fanfare or marker, they had passed into the country of Chicao. Eventually, their target came into view: not a mountain at all, but a lone shield volcano with a plume of smoke emanating from its active center. On the 21st night of travel, they set up camp at dusk in the shadow of the mountain when they noticed another camper not too far from them: a lone young woman, a hobbit, who appeared to be ill-equipped to be staying in the wilderness for any length of time. Cheko was voted to be the most unassuming person to go greet the girl in order to not startle her, so Cheko went to see why she was all the way out in the wilderness alone. The woman introduced herself as Nina Alondra; she seemed dazed and confused, as though she couldn’t quite think straight, and couldn’t remember everything clearly. What she did know was that she had to reach the top of the nearby volcano by sunset the next evening. Cheko took pity on the addled woman, told her that they were headed to the same location and asked her to join their campsite, if she so wanted. She agreed, collected her things and walked back with Cheko towards the others. Nina was introduced to the rest of the group, and she once again stated her need to climb the volcano for sunset. Everyone agreed that that was within their power, and since they were already headed in that direction, she may as well walk with them. Everyone found her a bit odd, as she couldn’t really give a reason as to why she was doing this, or where she had come from: it seemed as though she was either poorly hiding things, or very ill. Pierce, who was rather good at reading people, could tell that her fragmented explanations were actually to herself as much as the others: she legitimately did not know what she was doing or why, to the point that he suspected mind control, or some other compulsion. After she retired, he told this to Victor and Cohen, who agreed that this was unsettling, but not to the point where they should act preemptively. If she was being compulsed by something, it might lead them to an echo, and they doubted a young hobbit girl could seriously threaten all of them. If she seemed to be in danger, they’d help; if she tried anything untowards, they’d retaliate. With that, everyone settled for the night. The next day they rode up the base of the volcano. A thin path actually wove its way up the side, so they followed it until it reached a wall of sharpened, blackened logs. After some debate, half of the group decided to continue up the side of the mountain, abandoning the path to ensure that they reached the summit without interference, while the other half would approach whatever settlement was on the path, and see if they could warn them that the volcano might erupt, either as a function of their meddling or as a result of the cyclical foretelling of the Eshbolian myth. With that decided, Pierce, Lucca, Cress, Clover, Nina and Itzli began to walk on foot up the craggy and increasingly hot mountainside, while Victor, Virgil, Cohen, Cheko and Ryuji approached the gate. The gate was tended by a pair of goblins, who stopped them and demanded to know their business. Only Victor and Ryuji understood their guttural language, and the Yetoman explained that they were going to the top of the volcano. They were told that they had to speak to the chief of Craigmore if they wanted to reach Craigmore; apparently, they used the same name for the volcano, the volcano’s summit specifically, and for their village. The five were escorted into the goblin village, built haphazardly behind the wall; Victor made it excessively clear what he would do to any goblin that tried to harm his son. Once they had reached the center, the chief was called: a gobin with painted skin and dressed in garish rags, riding a similarly painted worg, strutted out. She declared that only Fire Goblins could go to Craigmore, and that they must pass the tests to be called Fire Goblins. When she asked which of them were Fire Goblins, they conferred among themselves in hushed tones before volunteering Cohen, who probably had the most experience with and defense against fire. The chief asked again if he was a Fire Goblin, to which he said yes with an exaggerated eye roll; he was promptly excused from the tests, which the other four now had to take, causing Cohen to fall into paroxysms of laughter. Victor stressed that Virgil was a child and couldn’t take the tests; the chief said that children of course weren’t Fire Goblins, they were tinder. The goblins all laughed at the joke, and the chief ceded that if Victor could do all of the tests with Virgil riding on his shoulders, that would be fine. The first test involved walking across a large burning pit; Cheko discretely cast Resist Fire on all of them while Cohen watched nearby. With the magic on them, the trial was easily passed, though Ryuji was obviously less than comfortable. The second involved juggling balls of burning peat; Cheko almost immediately dropped all three of her balls, with one hitting her on her head. Ryuji juggled three balls to the goblins’ satisfaction, and Victor managed to keep five in the air. The two men were passed to the final test, where teams of goblins must stand on top of each other in teams, trying to knock each other down while standing on burning coals. Ryuji let two goblins climb on his shoulders, while Victor was held up by two goblins, as he didn’t want them climbing on Virgil. A stick was handed to Virgil and the goblin on top of Ryuji, and the teams walked into the fire. They pushed fiercely against each other, but it was eventually Victor and Virgil who stood victorious. Victor was declared to be a Fire Goblin, and was given a small glass jar that appeared to have magma in it, made into a necklace; magic kept the bottle fortified, so it only gave off a pleasant glow and warmth. The chief explained that it was his duty now as a Fire Goblin to spread the flame, for the Firehawk was to rise soon, and its fire must cover the land. For now, however, there was to be a feast. The group reiterated that they needed to reach the top, to which the chief replied that they could go tomorrow morning. Shrugging, they decided to wait for news from the others before doing anything, lest they disturb the reveling goblins. While that occured, the others scaled the volcano. The going was slow and hot without the path, and they risked falling into pits and cracks filled with lava. At one point, they were consumed by smoke, separating everyone; Pierce summoned Sienna, who lead him out, laughing at his incompetence, and reunited him with Lucca, Nina and Cress, who had managed to keep their bearings in the fumes. Clover stumbled out some time later, and the group continued. As they got closer and closer to the top, Nina slipped into a fugue state, and seemed to be moving without intent, guided by something else. Shrugging, the others decided to just follow her for the time being. Nina took them to the summit of the volcano, where the edge dropped off into a steep bowl with a lake of lava in its center. Acting quickly, Cress grabbed her before she pitched over the cliff into the lava, snapping her out of her delirium. She wondered where she was, and how they had gotten there, as she only remembered beginning to climb the mountain, not reaching its peak. After she swore that she was fine, the group climbed their way down into the mouth of the volcano, where the mirror indicated the echo existed. Leaving Itzli at the top, the others descended and looked out over the flaming lake. Several large glassy black pillars jutted up from the lava. Cress managed to spot something atop one of the pillars: one of the spiky, one-eyed beacons of the All. Without hesitation, Clover flew over to it and, channeling her ascendant power, cleaved it in half, letting the pieces fall into the fire. When that was settled, the other four decided to enter the echo, leaving Nina within the crater. The echo saw Lucca, Cress, Clover, Sienna and Pierce inside the volcano, where the lava was swiftly rising. As they looked about for the focus of the echo, they saw a small, human figure step into the molten rock. Clover, wearing the angel wings, tried to pull them out, but found that she couldn’t budge them, nor stop them. The person kept walking, unfazed, slowly sinking into the lava. Everyone panicked, but had no ideas; they watched them disappear into the burning rock. As they did, the ground rumbled; the volcano was about to erupt. As they scrabbled to escape, they found themselves back in Materia, with Itzli and Nina looking on. They looked at each other, not sure of what they had seen. As they spoke to each other, they noticed Nina get a strange look in her eyes. They were helpless as they saw Nina turn towards the lava and walk into it, just as they had seen in the echo. As she vanished beneath the lava, the volcano began to rumble. Scrambling, Pierce unsummoned Sienna to protect her from the lava before the others took flight, those capable of flying carrying those who couldn’t. They watched the lava boil and rise with uncanny speed. Suddenly, a Complete appeared where the beacon once watched silently. Unfortunately for it, it hadn’t counted on the lava, and quickly found itself utterly consumed by it; those assembled laughed and congratulated themselves on their fortune. This happiness was short-lived, as something else emerged from the fire: two huge elementals of fire, along with something else: a being that seemed not to be made of flame, but was shrouded in it, with great fiery wings. It was reminiscent of Nina, but was certainly no longer her, larger and lacking any real definition of form or face. The being declared itself to be the Firehawk, risen once more to spread the flame and ash. It approached them and asked them to follow it, spreading the word of the Firehawk to all the peoples of the land. They all looked at each other, unsure if they could win against it in a fight, especially considering the elementals that flanked it. Pierce attempted to speak to the Firehawk, explaining the All and the threat that they posed; the Firehawk responded almost ominously, that all that was in the Firehawk’s domain would burn. It pressed them again to rally behind it, to which the group, unwilling to face it in battle without the others, agreed. Pleased, the Firehawk said to meet it at the Seat of the Firehawk, where all would gather. With that, it raised its arm, and a gigantic pillar of flame erupted miles and miles away, barely visible on the horizon, sending a plume of black smoke into the air. The Firehawk rose into the air and with a wave of its arms, sent an explosion tearing outward from its body, hurting everyone badly and nearly killing Itzli as it continued on into the sky, towards the flame pillar. The elementals began walking idly down the side of the now-erupting volcano, following the lava. Looking at each other, they decided there was little else to do but go to the village and hope that the others were doing better than they were. As they flew down the side, they saw more and more elementals rising up out of the lava. As the volcano erupted, the goblins began cheering and reveling with new intensity, cheering the return of the Firehawk. The party and feast continued, and the goblins hardly noticed the arrival of more humans. They explained what had happened, and tried to warn the goblins of the impending danger. They cared very little, and pointed out a series of trenches that ran around and through the village; when the lava reached the edge, it flowed into and through the trenches, lighting the village and sparing the buildings. With little else to do, the group spent the night in the village, surrounded by reveling goblins. The morning saw the village mostly silent: besides a lone triad of goblins who were still partying, the others had all passed out or had left the village, heading out on a quest to spread the “word” of the Firehawk. The group packed their things and left without a word. Unsure of what the Firehawk might portend, they decided to head towards the tribal village a few weeks further inland, where they had heard of a strange temple that might house an echo. They traveled through the day, escaping the ashen, smoky air that now surrounded the volcano and returning once more to the chaparral. The next morning, who should appear but the fey twins, floating lazily in the air, who claimed to have finally found what they were looking for. After being asked by Pierce to speak in a Materian language, and after Harlequin explained which language Mirin was, they switched to speaking what all but Itzli could grasp. Virgil asked for their name, for which one of the twins berated him, saying that a fey should know better; the other twin called the first stupid, explaining that the child was a fey-soul, not a fey, and that they didn’t mind using the name Gemini. Going on, they explained that they had found the item, but that they couldn’t give it to them without them passing a trial of some sort, since these items couldn’t be used by just anyone. Eventually, they settled between them a means of testing teamwork, which was central to this item; if the group could find another echo and pass that trial, while also working together under their personal test, then they would get Gemini’s item, along with whatever magical object was linked to the echo. Everyone agreed to these terms; with that, Gemini snapped their fingers and said they’d be back when they finished the trial. Everyone felt weak and dizzy; when they regained their senses, they found that all of them, sans Virgil and Itzli, had changed bodies with each other. Worse yet, they found that, in these forms, they didn’t have any of their magical abilities. Once they had organized themselves after this jarring change, they continued walking, keeping their heading from earlier and sighing that it would be a much longer trip now. Category:Advent of the All